


The Ride

by emilyevanston



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, M/M, Mentions of Sex, Pining, Tony Stark Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-30 09:48:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15749229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emilyevanston/pseuds/emilyevanston
Summary: Rhodey confronts Tony when he starts to slip back into his old ways following the break up with Pepper.  Turns out they have both been keeping a pretty big secret.





	The Ride

Rhodey watched from the lobby as Bobbi, Tony’s new assistant showed a bewildered looking redhead around the gift shop, throwing random Iron Man merchandise into a basket.  He sighed and shook his head.  Of course, she was a redhead.  This return to the scene since Pepper had left had so far been a long string of women, at least three out of four having red hair.  The giving them an Iron Man gift basket after the event was the cherry on top of what was primarily a shit sundae.  Why for the love of everything good, Tony Stark had decided that the women he slept with needed a t-shirt with his face on it after was beyond reason.

He watched as she was ushered into the street and waited for Bobbi at the elevator.

“Hi, Colonel Rhodes.”  The small blond said cheerily as he held the door open for her.

“Bobbi.  Doing the tour I see.”  He said hitting the number for Tony’s lab.

Bobbi rolled her eyes.  “There was two last night.  The other one decided to sneak out at about two with her shoes in her hand.”

The elevator started moving as Rhodey shook his head.  “Another redhead?”

Bobbi shook her head.  “No, not this time.  I guess he only needs one at a time.  I wish he’d realize that the thing he liked about Pepper was her brains though.  That’d be nice.”

Rhodey huffed and shook his head.  “I keep just going ‘It’s temporary, it’s temporary.  Big break up.’  Starting to think he’s given up.”

Bobbi frowned.  “Yeah, well.  I hope not.  Didn’t really sign up for this to have to be the bad guy as soon as I get in.”

The elevator stopped on some offices and Rhodey patted her on the shoulder.  “Well, he did give his last assistant his whole company.  So you never know where you’ll end up, hey?”

Bobbi laughed as she stepped out into the hall.  “I can dream big I guess.  Have a good one, Colonel.”

“You too, Bobbi.”  He replied.

The doors closed and the elevator just stood there.  “FRIDAY, what’s going on?”

“Mr. Stark has said he wanted privacy,”  FRIDAY replied.

“FRIDAY…”  Rhodey said dragging the word out.

“But Mr. Stark…”  FRIDAY began.

“FRIDAY.”  Rhodey interrupted sternly.  There was the count of three and the elevator started moving.  “Thank you, FRIDAY.”

The elevator stopped and doors flew open much faster than normal and when he stepped out into the lab then slammed shut behind him.  Tony was hunched over a bench using his soldering iron on a small circuit board, he kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other, his ass popped out and wriggling with each movement. Rhodey made his way over to him and slapped his ass.

Tony jumped up, swore and turned to Rhodey grinning.  “Getting a bit fresh there, platypus.”  He teased, turning back to the board.  “Ah shit, I burnt a hole right through it.”  He said and tossed the whole thing in the trash.  “FRIDAY can you print me up another one?”  He said spinning some plans on the screen in front of him and quickly switching one of the circuits paths.

“Right away, Mr. Stark.” The AI replied.

Tony turned back to Rhodey.  “What’s up, buttercup?  You’re here early.”

“Thought we could go grab some breakfast,”  Rhodey said.

Tony furrowed his brow.  “Well as much as I’d love to go on a date with you, I’m kinda busy.”

Rhodey scoffed.  “Bullshit.  Come on.”

Tony hesitated, looking between Rhodey and the bench before grabbing his jacket, shrugging it on and following Rhodey to the elevator.  “So what are we doing?  Don’t you have important work to be getting to?”  Tony asked as they started traveling down.

Rhodey shrugged.  “Not since I got on the Avengers’ payroll.”

“I suppose you think you’re funny.”  Tony teased.  “But really?  We don’t go to breakfast.”

“Saw your latest conquest getting ushered out, man.  You’re giving them gift baskets now?”  Rhodey said.

“Hey, they took the ride.  Only fair they get to take home a souvenir.”  Tony said, nudging Rhodey.  The joke didn’t quite make it all the way to his voice though and as the elevator came to a stop and Rhodey looked him up and down.

“Why are you doing this to yourself, man?”  He asked.

“Doing what exactly?”  Tony asked.  A couple of teenaged girls came rushing over and Tony posed for a selfie quickly before moving on.

“The whole Playboy thing.  Sleeping around.  That.”  Rhodey said as they started walking again.

Tony pulled a face, pursing his lips and his eyebrows knitted together.  “What do you mean doing it to myself.  It’s who I am.  Who I’ve always been.  This is my natural state.”

Rhodey sighed and patted Tony on the back.  “You were just in a really significant long-term relationship.”

“Yeah, which failed.  I ran it into the ground and it caught fire.  There were hundreds of casualties.”  Tony huffed.

Rhodey laughed and pointed at a café midway down the block.  “That was dramatic even for you, Tony.”

“You know what I mean.  It crashed and burned and that was because of me.  I can’t keep people.  Look at me.  Everyone leaves eventually.  This,”  He said gesturing up and down his chest.  “Is it.  I’ve accepted it.”

Rhodey opened the door to the café and Tony stepped inside.  There was a brief pause as everyone fell silent and craned their heads to see him.  One of the servers rushed over and grabbed some menus.  “Hello, Mister Stark.”  She said with a bright smile.  “Table for two?”

Tony nodded and pointed to an empty booth that hadn’t been cleaned off yet.  “That one.”  There was a scurry of movement as they booth was cleaned off in record time, silverware being placed down as Tony slid into the chair.   “Can we get you any drinks?”

“Coffee.  Black.   And sparkling water.”  Tony said.

“And for you, sir?”  She asked, Rhodey.

“I’ll have the same.”  He said.  The server scurried away and Rhodey trained his sights back on to Tony.  “Relationships fall apart, Tony.  But you were happy.  You just had different things you wanted.  Next time…”

“Next time.  Right.”  Tony scoffed.  “What’s the point?  I got shown pretty early on that I’m unlovable.  People leave me.  That’s what they do.”

Rhodey narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath.  “You keep saying that, but I’m still here.”

“Yeah well too bad you’re straight,”  Tony said rolling his eyes.

Rhodey raised one eyebrow.  “Who said I was straight?”

Tony stared at him blankly and pulled his sunglasses to the end of his nose.  “You… You said you were.”

“When?  When have I ever said that?”  Rhodey pressed.

“But… But… You’re always with women…”  Tony stuttered.

“When? When am I with women?”  Rhodey asked, exasperated.

“When… When we… and I…”  He stopped talking and his eyes went wide.  “What.  The.  Fuck?  Platypus?”

“Figured it out?”  Rhodey asked.

“But… But…  Why didn’t you tell me?”  Tony asked.

“Does it matter?  I don’t really date.”  He didn’t add because he’d been pining for a certain genius billionaire.  There was no reason he had to know that.

“Yes.  Yes it matters.  You’re my best friend.  You know everything…”  He stopped and rubbed his hand through his hair.

“Yeah.  Too much.  But that’s nothing.  Who cares if I like men?  The only difference now is instead of saying too bad Rhodey’s straight, you say it about yourself.”  Rhodey said with a roll of his eyes.

The waitress came over and put their drinks on the table.  “Two black coffees.  Are you ready to order?”

Tony started stirring his coffee with a spoon watching the little whirlpool effect he’d made.  “Waffles.  Whole wheat if you have them.”

“Certainly, Mr. Stark.”  The girl said writing on her notepad.  “And you, Colonel Rhodes?”

“I’ll take the light breakfast.”  He said.  She scribbled on the pad and took the menus away.

“Light, huh?”  Tony asked.

“Well, I’m not getting any younger, Tony,”  Rhodey replied.

Tony dropped his eyes and kept watching as he stirred his coffee.  “I can’t you know.”  He said.

Rhodey took a sip of his coffee.  It was bitter and slightly burned but the caffeine hit the spot.  He looked at Tony with his eyebrows raised.  “Can’t what?”

“Can’t say it’s a shame I’m straight,”  Tony answered.

“Why because you like being straight?”  Rhodey asked, feeling slightly confused.

“What?  No.  I mean… I’m not.”  Tony said.

“Well if you’re gay you’ve built that closet pretty fucking big there, honey.”  Rhodey scoffed.

Tony scrunched his nose and looked up at Rhodey over the top of his glasses.  “There is another option there, sour patch.”

Rhodey stared at him blinking.  “What?  No…”  Tony nodded his head, a little smirk on his lips.  “Since when?”

“Always.  I just don’t advertise it.  I had an image I had to live up to.”  Tony said scrunching up the side of his face.  “Besides, I thought you were straight.”

Rhodey shook his head and started laughing.  “You mean, all this time?”

Tony scooted closer to him and placed his hand on top of Rhodey’s.  “Looks that way.”

“Well, aren’t we a couple of fucking idiots?”  Rhodey asked.

Tony took off his glasses and rubbed his eye with the back of his hand.  “I’d say that was an accurate statement.”  He looked up into Rhodey’s eyes with a look of hope he hadn’t seen in him for a long time.  “So now what?”

“Well, now I think…”  Rhodey said and brought his lips to Tony’s.  Even as he knew people were pulling out their phones to capture the moment, the world disappeared.


End file.
